What's Your Definition Of It Then?
by YYHfan-KB
Summary: During a fake drugs bust Lestraude and his team find something unexpected in John's room, only John wasn't too happy about them going through his box. Complete.
1. The Box

It was in the middle of another 'drugs bust' while John was at work that Anderson had come up with the idea to search John's room as well reasoning that there was no telling what Sherlock might have hidden in there so two lackeys were sent up to look over the doctor's room.

They had only been up there for a few minutes when they came back down bearing the box.

It was basically just a rough wooden thing, but it had a massive steel chain wrapped around it with an equally large padlock and a few numbers on the side with the initials: JHW.

They set it down with a muffled bang on John's cluttered writing desk.

"We found this in his room sir." Lackey one spoke up, "It looks suspicious sir, and it weighs quite a bit." Everyone stopped and gathered around to look at it, it looked like it might be interesting.

Even Sherlock seemed intrigued by the presence of this box but didn't really want anyone poking around in John's stuff because he knew how angry the doctor could be when anyone other than Sherlock messed with his things without permission, he'd given up on Sherlock learning how to ask first then take.

"I don't think opening it is a good idea." Sherlock muttered to Greg who ignored him

"Right, let's open it up and see what's in it." Greg wasn't sure what to make of the box, it clearly hadn't been opened in a while and even he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go through something the doctor had put under such heavy lock and key but he decided they might as well take a look.

He figured if all else failed they could fall back on the search warrant and claim the box had appeared to be suspicious.

"Open it up how?" Sherlock quickly saw a way to make them put the box back, "You don't have a key and you don't have cutters strong enough to break the chain."

Lackey two decided to step up to bat, "That's why we grabbed this key ring from the nightstand." The cocky jerk held up a ring of keys with a grin.

Sherlock groaned internally, of course John would keep the key to this box on the key ring with all the other useless keys he'd collected over the years.

With a flourish Greg selected the right key after a few tries and opened the padlock.

The chains hit the desk with a thump, and everyone gathered around as Greg lifted the lid of the box as carefully as possible ready for anything.

Inside the box lay a tissue-wrapped package on top of a glass case, Greg lifted the tissue-wrapped item out and carefully opened it to find three sets of metal ID tags. Each had clearly seen quite a bit of wear and tear because none of them were in mint condition, and each had John's name on them.

Laying the tags aside Greg pulled out the glass case which held a row of medals, the Victoria Cross, the Royal Red Cross, and the Military Cross.

"Whoa," Greg whistled to himself, "he's got more medals than any service member I've ever known."

"Looks like the doctor is a decorated hero, Sherlock did you know he had all these?" Sally looked impressed, who would have guessed that the unobtrusive doctor had achieved so much?

"I had no idea," Sherlock shook his head as he took in these new details about John, filing them away for future reference, "he's never really told me much about his time in Afghanistan and I haven't pried."

Sherlock's comment got a few raised eyebrows but almost everyone dismissed it when Anderson grabbed a binder of reports and started reading out loud, "...Captain John Watson single-handedly halted a sniper attack on his company by vaulting over the retaining wall of a small garden where the shooters were located, he then proceeded to disable both snipers and was back with his company tending to the men who had been shot before anyone else could mobilize to help..."

"He definitely fits my definition of a hero," Greg thumbed through a stack of reports from John's past, "it seems he saved the day several times and saved the lives of not only military personal but civilians as well."

"I'm not a hero."

Every person in the room flinched at the icy tone and turned to find John behind them in the doorway.

His outward bearing was what you could call cautiously relaxed, but his normally kind eyes were hard and icy as he strode towards them. He carefully took the files out of Greg's unresisting hands, and gathered up what they had taken out of the box before carefully settling it all back in.

Without another word he closed the lid and wrapped the chain around the box again, and then he snapped the padlock back into place. As carefully as one would cradle a child he carried the locked box upstairs and shut his door leaving everyone to stare at one another.

"I think its time we left." Greg glanced up the stairs then looked at Sherlock, "Text me later about the case ok?"

A nod from the pale detective was all Greg got as he shepherded his people out the door, many of them whispering amongst themselves about John.

Sherlock sank down onto the sofa to prepare for the anger John would likely direct at him. _I knew we shouldn't have opened that box, it clearly screams private and he was very angry at us all for prying into his past. I wonder how long I have until he comes down…_


	2. Concerning Hero's

John stared at the box. The outrage he had first felt when he'd realized that they had been going through _his _box was fading, replaced by the empty feeling he always had when faced with the memories of that time.

He'd watched as many great men died and they didn't get the title of "hero" because they hadn't done anything special, or been anyone special. The word "hero" could have been applied to each and every man who fought in that war alongside John, but they didn't care about anything other than the pain and whether or not they'd live to see their families again when that bullet found its mark.

John had held the hand of dying soldiers and looked them in the eye and said far too many times that it would all be over soon as he watched the blood poor out of them like sand out of a broken hour-glass. He'd whispered too many empty promises that they'd be fine to believe in the word "hero" anymore.

When Greg had called him a "hero" John had felt that revulsion that he'd first felt when the doctors in the vetran's hospital had called him a "hero" for saving the two soldiers who had been wounded before John was shot, apparently both of them had survived and were spreading rumor of his "heroism."

He felt like a fraud, all he'd done was patch up a couple of soldiers and had gotten shot trying to reach a third dying soldier. He rememebered the explosion of pain and the crunch as his clavicle shattered.

Sitting heavily on the bed he clenched his fists in an attempt to will away the pain that was coursing through his arm. He was still angry that Sherlock had allowed them to go through the box without a fight, and the fact that Greg had actually invaded his privacy like that made him even more angry.

But, John understood curiosity, and if anything he knew he should be grateful they hadn't noticed his gun under his pillow. With a sigh he stood up to go downstairs, his shoulder throbbing slightly.

There sat Sherlock, the lanky detective was folded up on the couch, eyes locked on John's face, his expression blank.

"Sherlock, I'm not mad-"

"Yes you are."

John sat down in his chair heavily, "-directly at you, is what I was going to say so you can relax."

"Then who are you mad at?"

"Mostly Greg for opening that box."

"And me?"

"Why didn't you stop them?" John could feel his anger coming back slightly but he pushed it back.

"They wouldn't have listened."

"You could have tried."

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I apologize that I didn't do things exactly like you want them done Mister Hero." Sherlock's last words were all but sneered and John stood up, trying his best not to punch the other man.

He settled for hissing out with as much venom as possible, "I'm _not _a hero, got it? There is no such thing as a _hero."_

The look on Sherlock's face told John that that wasn't the exactly reaction he had expected from the doctor.

"John, did you know your eyes turn dark blue when you become angered?"

John had to stop and blink, "Oh, see now they've gone back to a medium blue, which is good because you are no longer about to hit me right?"

Sherlock knew he was playing a dangerous game, if he said the wrong thing, worded one sentence wrong it was all over. So when John started laughing he knew he had played it just right.

"Only you Sherlock Holmes would notice something so mundane in the middle of a confrontation." John collapsed back into his chair shaking with laughter, even Sherlock had to join in for a moment.

When their laughter turned into giggles and died down Sherlock looked John square in the eye and promised, "It won't happen again."

John nodded after a moment, "I know it won't."

"John?"

"Yes Sherlock?"

"How do you actually define a hero?"

John stopped for a moment before replying, "To me a real hero is someone who gives everything simply for the sake of giving not for the accolades or the praise. A hero is someone who doesn't care what happens to them, just so long as whoever they're helping is safe and unhurt. That is my definition of a hero."

"I see," Sherlock paused thoughtful, "Angelo's?"

"Sounds great, let me text Greg first though." John grinned.

"All right, let me go change clothes."

John watched his flat mate dissapear into his bedroom before pulling out his phone and sending a message to Greg:

_Don't do it again._

_-JW_

"Ready to go?" Sherlock was already at the foot of the stairs holding John's coat.

"Ready."

Greg was sitting at his desk working on a seemingly endless round of paperwork when John's message reached him, opening it up he read:

_Don't do it again._

_-JW_

With a sigh he typed back:

_Believe me, I won't._

_-GL_

* * *

**A/N: **I'd like to say thanks to everyone who's reviewed, put this on story alert, or favorited it, and I'd also like to ask that you tell me what you thought of it. I appreciate the tip my anonymous reviewers gave me, but I'd like it even better if you gave me signed reivews so I could reply personally.

Thank you all, I hope you enjoyed this little two-shot,

^_^ KB


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